Thankful
by spiritx33
Summary: Now that Nick's back in her life, Natalia turns to some friends for help. [CalleighNatalia friendship, EricNatalia fluff]
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** After watching episode 5.04: "If Looks Could Kill," there was no way I couldn't write a fic! I hope you all like it!

**Thankful**  
Chapter One 

It was nearing seven o'clock in the evening and the hot Miami sun was finally beginning to set, signaling the end of the workday for the Miami-Dade CSIs. After this particular day's events—two models dead, one killed over the job and the other greed, both owners of the modeling agency killing each other, a GSW to one and the other poisoned, as a helpless Eric and Calleigh had to watch die--they all seemed eager to get home for the night… all but one, who wasn't sure what she wanted to do, or what she should do, next.

Natalia Boa Vista sat alone in the locker room on the bench running vertical along the middle of the aisle, her face buried in her hands. Unlike the other CSIs, today's case wasn't what had Natalia so stressed. In fact, compared to her own personal problems that had emerged today, the case was _relaxing_. Anything was relaxing, compared to Nick being back in her life.

Nick. Natalia's hands fell away from her face and she straightened up, taking in a big breath of air. She did her best to let it out slowly, but she was so tense and anxious after everything that had happened today that it came out in quick, choppy bursts. She then slouched back over, resting her forearms on her thighs, as her deep brown eyes became fixated on a piece of fuzz resting on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three of her coworkers—Calleigh, Eric, and Ryan—enter the room, laughing about something. This didn't last long, though; their laughter died quickly when they caught sight of Natalia. The three split, Ryan and Eric going down a separate aisle quietly, as Calleigh made her way to Natalia.

"Hey," she said, smiling down at her friend, who looked like she could use a smile, if not a hug. She abandoned her locker for a minute or two to sit down on the bench, keeping her eyes on the troubled woman.

Even if she tried, Natalia couldn't muster a smile. She couldn't even find the strength to look at Calleigh. "Hey," she responded, her eyes still fixed on the fuzz.

There was moment of silence between the two women as Calleigh wondered what she could possibly say to Natalia. She didn't want to just collect her things and leave… It was obvious that Natalia needed someone right about now. She knew that Eric had been pretty supportive of her for most of the day, but she also wanted Natalia to know that she was here for her, too.

"How ya feelin'?" Calleigh finally settled on.

Natalia shook her head. "No better than before. Probably worse," she admitted. Now that she'd have to see Nick every time he was on cleanup duty for a crime scene she worked, how could she _not_ feel worse? "He landed a job with Crime Scene Cleanup."

Calleigh frowned when Natalia shared this news with her. It wasn't new to her, though; Horatio had mentioned this to all the CSIs, wanting to give them a heads up so they could lookout for not only Natalia, but for themselves as well. They didn't know much about Nick, but Natalia said that he's capable of anything… and who knows what she had to endure before finally finding the courage to get away from him.

This time, Calleigh was at a loss for words. She had never dealt with anything like this before, so she had no idea how to handle it. Luckily, Natalia continued, giving Calleigh a reprieve for the moment.

"I don't know if I can continue, Calleigh…" Natalia finally lifted her head and turned to Calleigh, her brown eyes filled with fear. "Maybe I should just stick with staying in the lab… Going back to DNA…"

Calleigh didn't like this idea. Just because Nick was back in her life didn't mean that Natalia should have to run from him. "No way," she said, shaking her head. "You worked way too hard to become a CSI to give it up now, Natalia."

Natalia opened her mouth to say more, but Ryan Wolfe beat her to it. "Good night, Calleigh," he called. Both women looked down the aisle to see him standing at the door.

"Good night, Ryan."

"Good night, Natalia."

…_What_? Ryan Wolfe, actually being _civil_ to her? "Good night, Ryan," she responded, her voice soft, yet loud enough for him to hear. She watched as he exited the locker room, then turned back to Calleigh. There was only one logical explanation for him to not be ignoring her or shooting her a dirty look. "He knows, too?"

Calleigh confirmed this with a nod of her head. "We all do," she admitted.

"Great," Natalia said, defeated. The last thing she wanted to happen was for her colleagues to get pulled into this. They already knew about it, and she supposed it was only a matter of time now before Nick started harassing them, too. He had already started on Eric.

Speaking of Eric… He wasn't too far behind Ryan. Instead of simply wishing them a good night and leaving though, he headed down the aisle towards the two women. "Hey," he said to both of them.

Natalia and Calleigh both greeted him, the latter a bit more cheerful than the other. Calleigh and Eric exchanged worried glances for a moment as Natalia's head lowered again and she searched the floor for the fuzz, which had mysteriously disappeared.

"So what are you going to do?" Eric asked, pulling Natalia's attention away from trying to find that damned fuzz.

Looking back up at Eric, she shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I don't know…" Her voice trailed off for a moment as she thought about telling her friends how she truly felt. She sighed, and then continued. "I'm afraid to go home. He knows where I work; what if he knows where I live?" This was killing her… she hated letting others know she was weak, but she felt that she needed to tell the truth. If there was just one time in her life where she needed to let others in, it was now. "I'm afraid to even leave this room," she admitted, letting out a small, yet nervous laugh.

Calleigh frowned. "I'd invite you to spend the night at my home, but I'm renovating it. Everything's torn up, and I'm lucky if I could successfully make my way through it."

Even though she probably would have declined the offer, Natalia was about to thank her anyway, but Eric quickly piped up. "How about you spend the night at my house?" he suggested.

Natalia looked up at Eric, her eyes connecting with his, and she knew he was serious, that he wanted her to stay overnight. His eyes were filled with concern for her, but as much as she appreciated this, she couldn't. "Eric…" she started, then shook her head. "I couldn't… What if he's still following me? I can't risk—" Eric cut her off.

"—I'm already involved, Natalia, and I'm not going anywhere." He never broke eye contact with her.

Calleigh watched this exchange, and then brought her hand up to rub Natalia's back lightly, letting her friend know that she wasn't giving up, either.

A silence fell over the three of them as Natalia considered Eric's proposition. After a minute or two, Natalia nodded her head. "Okay," she agreed, which brought relieved smiles to both Calleigh and Eric's faces.

"Great," Eric said happily. Then he paused for a brief moment, as if thinking about something. "Err… I may need some time to do a little cleaning, though." He was a single guy living alone, after all.

Calleigh smiled at Eric. "That's fine," she said. "Natalia and I can swing by her house to get some things. Maybe a change of clothes?" Her eyes darted from Eric's face, which held much approval, to Natalia's.

Natalia was unsure about this. She really didn't want to pull Calleigh into this, but her friend gave her the impression that she didn't care if she'd get caught up in Natalia's personal problems. It was at this that Natalia couldn't help but smile. From the beginning, Natalia couldn't help but admire Calleigh. The southern beauty was one hell of a strong woman; she was very inspirational to Natalia, something she didn't know.

"Alright," Natalia agreed again, nodding her head, and got the same reaction from her two friends again, the relieved smiles.

"Good," Eric said, then nodded towards the door. "I'm gonna get going… I'll see you two in an hour?"

Calleigh looked up at him and nodded. "Sounds good."

Eric smiled. "Okay… be careful, you two."

"Don't worry, we will." Calleigh responded to his smile with one of her own.

The two women watched Eric leave the locker room, turning to look back once more before he was out of sight. Calleigh then shifted her attention back to Natalia and offered her a kind smile. "How about we finish up in here so we can get going? Maybe we can take a detour and stop to splurge on something fat, fried, and greasy?" Then she got up and started on the combination to her locker.

As disgusting as that sounded, Natalia knew her beloved cheese fries fell into that category. And she'd never give up her cheese fries. "Sounds like a plan," she smiled as she stood up to gather a few things from her locker before leaving for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I'm really, really sorry that it's taken me so long to update. My life has been pretty hectic lately and it was impossible for me to face the stairs to get to my computer right after having surgery. (But everything's better now.) And onto… Yay, reviews! Thanks to all who reviewed; I appreciate it. :-)

**Thankful**  
Chapter Two 

"We met via some friends about seven years ago at a Halloween party…"

Right after Natalia and Calleigh had left the MDPD building for the night, the two women had decided to stop for a bite to eat before going to Natalia's place. They chose a cute little joint, _Munchies_, which was just eight blocks from their destination. The small booth they sat in was next to a window that overlooked the beach, which was truly a sight to see with the pink, orange, and yellow hues the setting sun filled the sky with. Neither one was focused on this, though; in fact, the sunset was nothing new to them—they _did_ live in Miami, after all.

Calleigh reached into the basket of cheese fries that the two shared as she listened to Natalia give her some back-story on this ex-husband, Nick Townsend. Even though she had yet to meet him, Calleigh already had a bad feeling about this guy. She didn't need to be a CSI to know that nothing good was going to come of this.

Natalia paused to take a sip of her Diet Coke before continuing. "It was instant attraction," she went on, snapping her fingers after placing the glass back on the table. "Instant everything. It was perfect… too perfect, actually. He was attractive, compassionate, polite, funny, romantic… Everything a woman would want in a man." Not only was Natalia just explaining this to Calleigh… she was explaining this to herself, trying to assure herself that there wasn't something wrong with her for falling in love with such a monster.

Calleigh nodded. "Of course," she responded, just before cramming a fry smothered in cheese and ketchup into her mouth. Why wouldn't a woman want those qualities in a man? She certainly did.

"We moved in together and got married a year later… had the whole 'honeymoon period'… and then he… changed." Natalia needed to stop for a moment. Calleigh could see her struggling on the inside to maintain her composure as she relived some obviously terrifying moments from her past.

"Take your time," Calleigh said, looking into her friend's big doe-brown eyes. She could only imagine how difficult it must be for Natalia to talk about this… Calleigh sometimes felt she'd rather kill herself than talk to anyone about her father's problem with alcohol. That right there was embarrassing enough, but she was sure having to admit to someone that you were weak, that you endured so much torture without trying to stop it… not having the ability to stop it… was worse.

Natalia needed to have another sip or two of her drink to keep herself steady and focused. While this was hard to do, she wanted to keep going. She wanted to tell Calleigh about this. Wanted to let it out. Needed to, before she went crazy.

After taking another deep breath, Natalia continued. "It started off small. A little possessive, always in my business… I thought he was just looking out for me… that it was nothing…" Her voice trailed off for a second as she thought about what she had just said. "Well, that's not entirely true," she admitted. "I… I recognized the signs. But I didn't want to believe them. I convinced myself that nothing was wrong. That it was normal…" She shook her head, obviously disappointed with herself. "…You must think I'm an idiot."

Calleigh frowned, upset that Natalia assumed she'd think such a thing. "No, I absolutely do not," she said. "You loved him. When you love someone that much you don't see their faults. Don't want to see their faults." She understood that much.

Looking down for a minute to check her watch, Calleigh raised her eyebrows. "We'd better get movin'," she said. "We're supposed to be at Eric's in twenty minutes." She hoped that didn't sound like she was brushing Natalia off, because that wasn't her intention. She just didn't want Eric's anxiety level shooting up when the two didn't arrive at the set time. "How about you fill me in some more on the way to your house?"

Natalia had insisted on taking one car—one of many MDPD Hummers—to get her and Calleigh from the lab, to her house, and then to Eric's. This didn't make much sense to Calleigh at first, because both women had their cars with them, but she went with it anyway. If taking one car made Natalia feel more comfortable, then they'd take one car.

Because _Munchies_ was only several blocks away, it didn't take the two women more than three minutes to get to Natalia's house. As Calleigh parked the Hummer alongside the curb and reached to pull the key out of the ignition, Natalia grabbed her arm.

Calleigh whipped her head around to face her friend and noticed that Natalia's attention wasn't on her, despite the fact that she was still holding onto her arm. Before she could follow Natalia's gaze, the look of terror on the woman's face was enough to let Calleigh know what it was—or who it was—that had this powerful control over Natalia's emotions.

"How about we skip your house and go to Eric's?" Calleigh asked Natalia, wanting to get her away from her ex-husband as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this wouldn't happen.

Nick, who had been leaning up against his car that was parked in front of the driveway, had spotted the two women. He smirked as he straightened up and turned to face the Hummer.

Natalia turned away from Nick the minute he spotted her and looked at Calleigh. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not going to let him control what I do for the rest of my life. I'm going to go in and collect some things whether he likes it or not."

Natalia's bravery brought a smile to Calleigh's face. Perhaps her friend was over her traumatic past…

Or not. In fact, the only reason why Natalia had this sudden burst of courage was because Calleigh was with her. In Natalia's eyes, Calleigh was too tough for anything serious to happen.

…The fact that she had a gun helped a bit, too.

The two women exited the Hummer cautiously, Natalia keeping both eyes on her ex while Calleigh made sure she could see both Natalia and Nick very clearly from her spot in front of the Hummer. This was where she decided to stay as she watched Natalia approach Nick. Unless it appeared that her friend needed help, Calleigh would let Natalia try to handle her ex first.

"How the hell did you get my address?" Natalia asked as she approached Nick, the anger in her voice desperately trying to cover up her terror.

Nick's eyes darted from Natalia, to Calleigh, and then back to Natalia. Why the blonde wasn't following Natalia was something he didn't know, nor did he actually care about. All that mattered was Natalia. With a smirk that clearly showed nothing good would come of this, Nick responded. "I've got my ways," he said, enjoying watching the inner struggle she was having with trying to stick up to him. It was pitiful, really… She'd come back to him in time. He just knew it… could sense that she was breaking down. Losing all of her power to him. She was _his_. And if she knew what was good for her, she'd be a good girl and cooperate.

As much as Natalia was dying to kill the man standing in front of her, the man responsible for all those years of pain and suffering, she knew she needed to keep herself together. "If you don't leave, I'll have you arrested." Her voice was as calm as she could get it and her brown eyes stared directly into his. She needed to let him know that she was different now. That she wouldn't tolerate him any longer and that he had no business with her anymore.

A chuckle escaped Nick. "Oh, is that right? Arrest me for what?" He stuck his hands into his pockets and waited for an answer, one that probably wouldn't make sense. In his eyes, she was nothing more than a dumb slut who probably couldn't count higher than a hundred to save her life.

"I can have you arrested on a number of things, Nick. But I'm giving you one more chance to save yourself. Get the hell out of h—" Just as she extended her arm to point up the street, Nick lunged forward, grabbed her wrist, and forcefully pulled her towards him.

It took Natalia a moment or two to get over the initial shock of what had just happened but luckily, Calleigh caught on fast. She had been watching closely the entire time and started towards the two at a quick pace while reaching for her gun.

Nick smiled at Natalia as he watched her desperately try to break free of his grip. It felt good to have this control over her again… It felt good to know that the tough and confident attitude she had earlier had just been a façade and that she hadn't changed at all. She was still a weak, naughty girl who had to be punished. And her punishment began now, as he twisted her wrist some more, causing her to cry out in pain.

That was when he caught sight of the blonde drawing her gun at him. But before he had a chance to react and before she had a chance pull the trigger, their little scene was interrupted by a calm, low voice.

"Mr. Townsend… I highly suggest you let go of Miss Boa Vista."

The sudden appearance of Horatio Caine surprised all three adults and caught Nick off-guard just long enough for Natalia to pull away from him and scramble back towards Calleigh, who reluctantly lowered her weapon. "You okay?" she asked Natalia, her voice filled with concern as her eyes lowered to her friend's wrist.

Natalia's large, fear-filled eyes left her ex-husband and landed on Calleigh. Before saying anything, she looked down at her sore wrist and rubbed it gently. It didn't appear to be broken or sprained, but it definitely hurt and there would surely be a nasty bruise appearing there in time.

"I… I t-think so." Natalia just managed to spit out the words. It was obvious to Calleigh how shaken up the poor woman was--her bottom lip was trembling and every muscle in her body was tightened.

After securing her gun, Calleigh pulled Natalia into a hug in an attempt to calm her friend. "You're okay… you're safe," she assured Natalia while rubbing her back. "Horatio's here and he won't leave until Nick does."

Natalia's body slowly stopped trembling and she calmed down, especially at the mention of Horatio. She raised an eyebrow as she looked over to her boss who was taking off his sunglasses and talking to Nick in a very low voice. "Where did he come from?" she asked as she turned back to Calleigh. "I didn't even see him pull up."

"He does that a lot, popping up out of nowhere. You'll get used to it," Calleigh responded as she released Natalia from her arms and focused her attention on the two men standing on the other side of Natalia's driveway. She couldn't make out much of their conversation and only heard the last of what Nick said.

"Yeah, well, we'll just see about that," Nick said to Horatio before getting into his car and speeding off, but not before casting one more smug and terrifying look at Natalia.

When Nick's car was out of sight, Natalia and Calleigh both turned their attention to their boss who was walking towards them. "Are you two okay?" he asked when he reached them, tilting his head up and to the side to see them both.

Calleigh nodded at Horatio, letting him know that she was fine, but the question was meant more for Natalia who, after a pause, finally nodded her head. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good," Horatio replied, smiling at both of them. A beat went by before he turned away from his two CSIs, placed his hands on his hips, and looked up the street. "Now I believe you have something to do, Miss Boa Vista."

Natalia raised her eyebrow again, wondering how Horatio knew she'd be spending the night at Eric's. "Uh… yeah, I do," she replied.

"And so do I," Horatio said as he put on his sunglasses and started across the street to the Hummer he arrived in. When he got to the SUV, he opened the door, climbed in, and closed the door in one sweeping motion. He had left the Hummer running so there was no pause after shutting the door and pulling away, heading in the same direction that Nick had gone.

When the Hummer was completely out of sight, Calleigh looked toward Natalia, who still looked a bit frazzled. She smiled and rubbed her friend's back gently as she spoke. "How about we get movin'?" she suggested.

Natalia turned to Calleigh and smiled. "Sure," she nodded, but made no effort to move. "And… Calleigh?"

Calleigh raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"…Thank you."

No words came from Calleigh's mouth. Instead, she pulled Natalia into a one-armed hug and guided her toward the house.


End file.
